JOSEPH #70 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #52 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #41

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3666

JOSEPH #70

JOSEPH IN EGYPT #52
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #41

12. BENJAMIN #4

BENJAMIN: CATALYST FOR RECONCILIATION #1

Benjamin showed a different aspect of his character other than his warlike tendencies. He was a harbinger of peace among his brothers, and even with the older generation represented by Jacob.

Benjamin was not part of the conspiracy concocted by his ten older brothers to kill their brother Joseph.

Later, when the brothers had to travel to Egypt to seek food during a famine, Jacob’s love for his youngest son compelled him to keep Benjamin home “because he was afraid that harm might come to him” (Genesis 42:4). The other brothers traveled to Egypt and met with the governor of Egypt (Joseph, whom his brothers did not recognize). Joseph tested his brothers by accusing them of spying and demanding that they prove their honesty by bringing Benjamin back with them: “You will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here” (Genesis 42:15). Joseph shut them all in prison for three days and then released all but Simeon. The others returned home with the grain they had purchased—and the money that Joseph had secretly returned to them (verse 25).

Back in Canaan, Jacob laments his predicament: “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:36). For a while, Jacob refused to allow Benjamin to make the trip back to Egypt (verse 38). He later relented when they ran out of grain and Judah promised to personally guarantee Benjamin’s safe return (Genesis 43:8–9).

Upon arriving in Egypt, the brothers presented themselves to Joseph, who was still unrecognized by them. Joseph, as he greeted the brothers this second time, “looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, [and] he asked, ‘Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?’ And he said, ‘God be gracious to you, my son.’ Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep” (Genesis 43:29–30).

Joseph showed favor to Benjamin by preparing five times more food and drink for him than for his brothers when they gathered for dinner (Genesis 43:34).

When it came time for the children of Israel to return to their father, Joseph used Benjamin as the means of further testing them. Joseph placed a silver cup in Benjamin’s bag along with the money for the grain (Genesis 44:1–2). Joseph let his brothers set out on their journey and then sent a steward after them to feign outrage over the fact that they possessed stolen property. The brothers proclaimed their innocence, but, sure enough, the silver cup was found in Benjamin’s possession; the brothers tore their garments in grief (verses 3–13). As punishment for their “crime,” Joseph demanded that Benjamin remains in Egypt. But Judah—the same brother who had suggested years earlier that Joseph be sold into slavery—pleads with Joseph, saying, “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father” (Genesis 44:33–34). 

So, the brothers passed the test; they demonstrated a true change of heart from the time when they had mistreated Joseph.

The lesson today is about the submissive spirit of Benjamin.

1. He had to leave the comfort of home and the favoritism of his father Jacob as he was Joseph's surrogate in Jacob's affections.

2. He undertook the long and arduous journey to Egypt with his treacherous brothers who had sold their father's favorite Joseph off in a fit of jealousy and envy.

3. He did not complain of his treatment as a pawn between Joseph and his brothers.

4. He softened Joseph's heart with his very presence.

For his submissiveness and quiet obedience, Benjamin was rewarded with especial favour with Joseph.

Because of him in the midst of his brothers, Joseph's heart was moved with love rather than thoughts of revenge.

In Moses' time, his tribe gained prominence as a ministry partner of two other tribes - Ephraim and Manasseh - as they guarded the western flank of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.